President vows to stay in post despite election ban on reformists

Iran's president, Mohammad Khatami, said yesterday that he had no plans to resign over the disqualification of thousands of reformists as election candidates.

But he said he hoped the ban would be lifted before the election next month. "I have the intention to continue my task and my service to the people," President Khatami said in an interview with Swiss television.

The interview provided his first explicit words about his intentions since the hardline Guardian Council, an unelected constitutional body with sweeping powers, disqualified more than 3,000 moderate candidates from standing in the elections.

Mr Khatami's statement confirmed expectations among his reformist allies in parliament that he would avoid confrontation with the conservative theocratic leadership. He is thought to be pursuing a negotiated settlement of the crisis, which has triggered an 11-day sit-in at parliament by MPs.

Asked if he expected the elections on February 20 to be free and fair, Mr Khatami said he hoped so. "All my efforts will go in this direction."

By ruling out resignation, the president contradicted his vice-president, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, who told reporters in Tehran that the president and his reformist cabinet were prepared to step down over the ban on including moderate candidates.

The vice-president later said he was merely repeating previous threats by cabinet ministers to resign unless the Guardian Council reinstated the candidates.

The conflicting signals being sent out by the reformists will only reinforce cynicism among Iranians who have become disillusioned with the slow pace of reform and have yet to take to the streets in support of the protesting MPs. The MPs, numbering about 80, who are gathering in the parliament's lobby every afternoon, said they would protest until the council lifted its ban.

The MPs added that the ruling had already disrupted election campaign efforts because so many prospective candidates were waiting to find out if they would allowed to stand. They said they were considering extending their dawn-to-dusk fasts to 20-hour periods and possibly boycotting the election if a large number of reformists remained barred.

The crisis has damaged Iran's claims that it is a democratic republic and drawn international criticism.

The UN's secretary general, Kofi Annan, said yesterday that he hoped for fair elections in Iran which would include "participation of all parties".